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2013 reading goal:
15 new-to-me authors.
1) Stacy Gail
2) Heather Massey
3) Sidney Bristol
4) Ann Mayburn
5) Thea Harrison
6) Virna DePaul
7) Mary Quast
8) Molly Harper
9) Eleri Stone
10) PJ Schnyder
11) Kait Ballenger
12) Denise L. Wyant
13) Lucy Monroe
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Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Friday, August 19, 2011
Authors After Dark 2011 Wrap up
Wow! What an amazing experience! That’s What I’m Talking About!
I cannot even begin to tell you all how special this trip was for me. It was my very first CON and I loved it. First - I got to finally meet so many of the wonderful women I have been friends with for almost two years. The highlight was finally getting a hug from my “twinnie,” Bells. She gives the BEST hugs and is so full of love (even when you may be drunk and singing Katy Perry’s FIREWORK). But also on my list of MUST HUG (or give the “Issac the Bartender” pointer fingers) were Marq, Kat (Tigris), Penny, Dren, Larissa, Mandi, Pam, Felicia (Ferishia), Jules (Minxy), Sarah, Jojo, Robin, April and Insane Hussein. I have been friends with these women since almost the very beginning of my twitter life and the creation of Twimom227. It was so wonderful to see them in person.I also LOVED hanging out with so many bloggers that I had only “met” in passing on Twitter or at their blogs. I have to give a special call out to three such women: Felicia (the geeky blogger), KatieBabs and Danielle (Lush26), who helped make the trip extra special! I love making new friends.
I met so many other great bloggers, I would love to put down every single one here, but it would take up this entire post. The bloggers truly made this an event to remember! I have included some of their blog links below. (and if you wrote one and it’s not listed, please let me know so I can add it.)
Next... the authors. WOW! I cannot stop squeeing. (Is that even a word?) I will admit, I went to this CON because of 3 women: Larissa Ione, Meljean Brook and Lara Adrian. If you go back to the beginning of my blog (see post HERE) you will find that these three women were on my author “list,” ones that I really wanted to meet. I couldn’t believe that 3 of my FAVORITE authors were all going to be in one location. It was a bit of heaven for me because these women are not only fantastic authors, but genuinely lovely people.
Then once I got over the glee of knowing I’d meet those three ladies (or in the case of Lara, re-meet), I saw that I would also get to hang out with some of my other favorite authors like Stephanie Julian, Judi Fennell, Nancy Holzner and Anya Bast.
And what was just as much fun was meeting so many new-to-me authors, several of which I now have books from waiting to be read! Some of my favorites to meet were Monica Burns, Dakota Cassidy, Jessa Slade, Carolyn Crane, Jennifer Estep, Theresa Meyers, and Nicole Peeler.Okay, I am sorry about all of the gushing, but it truly was amazing. Here are just a few of my favorite parts of the weekend:
- Rooming with Mandi from Smexy Books. She is an wonderful person and I can’t wait to hang with her again.
- Meeting Meljean. Going to lunch with her (and a group of great ladies). Sitting with her at the “Steampunk Ball” watching her eat potato chips while she watched the side-show-freak-show. I couldn’t watch things like a guy pounding a nail into his nose, but she watched while eating. It was hilarious. I think she said “I can watch it go in, just not go out.” I recall thinking that was a pretty funny thing to say!
- Seeing Lara Adrian again. She is one of the nicest women out there. But she wasn’t going to give up ANYTHING about my man, Chase!
- Meeting Larissa Ione. She is so cool and so easy going. On the way home, we both were at the airport early. So she and I sat with @Toriaimeegirl (another awesome blogger that I got to meet) and just chilled for a couple hours.
- Celebrating Larissa Ione’s birthday in Bells, Kat and Marq’s room with Larissa and Lara A. What a special treat and I cannot wait to read about the were-fly!
- Having 1/2 of the writing team that makes up Lydia Dare introduce herself and tell me how much she appreciates my reviews. I love their books and didn’t realize she was going to be there. I wish we had time to chat before she had to leave.
- Meeting JA (Jaime) Saare. I’ve been tweeting with her forever and she is one of the coolest people out there. I totally love and respect her (and am dying for her next book!)
- Having cheese fries with Danielle and Mandi at the GREAT FOOD bar at 1:00 AM (yes, that was the name of the bar!)
By now you probably have heard about some of the negative things that did occur at the conference. I will agree that there were some very unfortunate events, and I am very sad that some of these things happened to my friends. I am thankful that I was not directly impacted by the events, but was disappointed that they occurred at all. I was also sad about the “Steampunk Ball,” which was our final night in Philly. I was expecting a fun night of dancing with friends, but instead it was an event not catered to the majority of the crowd that was present at the CON. But even with these things, I am still planning on attending NOLA 2012.
To see all the photos I took, click the “Photos” section of my blog or HERE.
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| Love these ladies! |
Other AAD posts and photos:
KatieBabs
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Friday, June 24, 2011
Chat Opportunity
Dear Readers...
I wanted to share with you some exciting news! The Berkley Publishing Group is delighted to announce that bestselling author CHRISTINA DODD will be doing a Live Video Chat on Facebook next week--Tuesday, June 28 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM (eastern time).
Everyone is invited to participate in the chat. Just log into Facebook, "like" Christina's page and voila--you're ready to send in your questions and join the discussion!You can click HERE for the link to the LiveStream chat.
Happy Reading or in this case... Happy Chatting!
Monday, June 6, 2011
A Visit to Lori Foster's (not so little) Event
Dear readers. NO... Unfortunately I did NOT attend the marvelous gathering that Ms. Lori Foster throws every spring. However, my dear friend, Nima (short for Nissan Mama) did attend the public signing. Being the amazing friend that she is, she wrote up this wonderful post and took some photos so that we could share the experience with you all.
Nima claims to be an apprentice fairy godmother. Until she earns her wings, she spends her time as a spinning instructor, riding her bike around the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, and consuming large quantities of chocolate. She plays the flute, loves to read, and has issues with paper clutter. She’s in total denial that she has a college student in his twenties, but as a peri-menopausal woman likes that her other two children are teenagers because life is so much more fun when everyone’s hormonal. Her husband escapes the insanity by taking to the road on his Harley. Nima encourages this because who doesn’t love a man in leather?
Amazingly, to her anyway, Nima is a published author. Her emphasis has been non-fiction in periodicals and documentary scripts. She has worked as on on-line video editor and voice-over artist. At present she is attempting to actually finish her first fictional novel, but is easily distracted by sparkly objects and all the books in her to-be-read pile.
Nima will likely show up here when you least expect her. Please help me in giving Nima a warm welcome here at That's What I'm Talking About! Take it away Nima...
*hangs head in shame* I didn’t know. I didn’t know! I swear I didn’t know!
I live in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio. There is a best-selling author, you might have heard of her, Lori Foster, and she lives in Ross, Ohio, about 30 minutes from my house. Every year for the last five years she has worked to sponsor this little affair un-astonishingly called the Lori Foster Reader and Author Get Together. Sounds intimate and low key, doesn’t it? Quaint even. Yeah, not so little. Why did no one tell me this was going on in my back yard all these years?!
I finished Hawke’s book yesterday, closed it with a sigh, and was giddy that I would be meeting Singh in less than 24 hours. Today, my car thermometer said the outside temperature had hit 100 and I was glad to be heading for air conditioning at the Marriott in West Chester, Ohio. I had no trouble parking and walked into the lobby forty-five minutes ahead of the signing, hoping the line wasn’t already too long. Hoping, that not many people had heard about this signing and I wouldn’t be subjected to the long lines I had recently endured for the J.R. Ward signing. (Totally worth it, by the way, the woman is a stand-up comedienne.) I figured out this was no small deal when I saw that Barnes and Noble had taken over the smaller ballroom and set up an on-site bookstore.
I wound my way through the crowds to the main ballroom. Inside they were handing out raffle prizes. I could see digital slide shows of book covers and trailers flashing to my right while waiters hustled to and fro to clean up lunch service. Male cover models (hip dents anyone?) and life sized cardboard cuts-outs decorated the room as much as very colorful participants—some authors, some readers, some publishers. Think feather boas and sequined hats and themed t-shirts. My favorite was worn by a very large, intimidating man and it said, “Ask me about my wife’s books.” Clearly this was a party and I had missed it.
Determined not to miss anymore, I was second in line behind a woman who had driven 4.5 hours from West Virginia to get Singh to sign her 30+ books. As I looked around, I realized there were tables and tables and more tables set up for authors, all making themselves available to readers for signing and chatting. Scanning the room when 2:00 pm had come and gone, I finally saw Singh making her way through the crowds. She wore a starched, white ruffled blouse, gray pinstripe slacks, and carried a soft pink leather purse. While she does look like her picture in the jacket of her books, I found her to actually be much softer and prettier in person. Perhaps it was the difference between living color and a black and white photograph? While being quite petite, she has a smile the size of Texas. Singh was one of the last authors seated because she had been part of a live internet chat/interview with Foster. Apologizing profusely for being a mere four minutes late, she announced that she had brought “sparkly pens” to make up for her tardiness. She then proceeded to sign ALL 30+ of Ms. West Virginia’s books.
When it was my turn, she graciously took a picture with me and I asked if she had actually spent any time in San Francisco for that was what had originally drawn me into the Psy/Changling series, being born and raised there. She replied in the affirmative and then asked me, “Did I get it right?” I laughed, assured her that she did with one exception. She referred to “old subway tunnels” which if you’ve ever been to the City by the Bay, you’d know are BART tunnels, not a true subway since it runs mostly above ground and is a monorail system, not at all unlike the ride at Disneyland. And there aren’t very many of them. Only a native San Franciscan would note that, however, and I grant her full leave to exercise literary license for the sake of storytelling. The rats have love somewhere, right?
Over the next half hour, I met multiple authors and had them sign bookplates, the modern answer to having something for the author to sign if you’re an e-reader . I learned that many of the authors are huge fans of each other--squealing, geeked-out fans. Virna DePaul, Chosen by Blood, was so excited she got to sit next to Singh that I thought she was going to wet her pants. She had a large stack of Singh’s books on the floor next to her own. Jess Granger had a stack on her table too, although she turned them face down while she was signing her latest, Beyond the Shadows. With first time published author Keri Stevens I discussed the advantages of different e-readers. Donna MacMeans and I chatted about Victorian vs. Regency historical novels, she gave me an unpublished excerpt from her latest Redeeming the Rogue, which won’t be released until August of this year, and a peacock feather to adorn my hair since it was pulled up in a French twist. The apparently hysterical antics of Dakota Cassidy at a recent conference in Columbus, Ohio was a source of great entertainment among readers waiting their turn to speak to the next author or their “must meet” list. I ended up in a lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of classifying a book as either sci/fi or romance since romance sells more books, but many hardcore sci/fi fans who enjoy a little romance in their stories would never venture into the romance section.
Next year! Next year! I promise to register and I’m taking Twimom227 with me!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Author Tour for Ghost Town
Fans of Morganville Vampire Series take note that author, Rachel Caine is currently promoting her newest release. Information is below. In addition, Please stop by next week when I post my review of Ghost Town on Tuesday, November 2, 2010.
RACHEL CAINE is on tour for
GHOST TOWN (Morganville Vampires #9)
Please see below for cities and dates!
October 26th: Murder By the Book at 6:30 PM
2342 Bissonnet St.
Houston, TX 77005
October 27th: Mystery Bookstore at 7:30 PM
1036-C Broxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
October 28th: Books, Inc. at 7:00 PM
Not Your Mother's Book Club
Town & Country Village
855 El Camino Real #74
Palo Alto, CA 94301
October 29th: Powell's (Cedar Hills Crossing) at 7:00 PM
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Beaverton, OR 97005
October 30th: Third Place Books at 6:30 PM
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
October 31st: Uncle Hugo’s at 4:00 PM
2864 Chicago Ave South
Minneapolis, MN 55407
November 1st: Anderson’s Book Shop at 7:00 PM
5112 Main Street
Downer’s Grove, IL 60515-4601
November 2nd: Borders at 6:00 PM
Exton Square Mall
298 Exton Square
Exton, PA 19341
November 4th: Barnes & Noble at 6:00 PM
*With Heather Brewer, author of the Vladimir Tod series!
1442 Turner-McCall Blvd
Rome, GA 30161
November 6th: Barnes & Noble at 2:00 PM
1430 Plaza Place
Southlake, TX 76092
November 20th: Borders at 2:00 PM
2190 N. Rainbow Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89108
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Meeting Lara Adrian - A Fangirl’s Experience
Welcome to Day 1 of my Lara Adrian/Midnight Breed Event and Giveaway...
One of the first paranormal authors I read was Lara Adrian. Her books came recommended to me from a group of friends I fondly refer to as my “guttermates.” At the time her fifth Midnight Breed book was released, so I was able to read a whole bunch back-to-back, and I enjoyed every moment. The mythology--vampires are actually descendants from a vicious alien race that landed on earth years and years ago--is so unique and intriguing. What I love about her stories is the hot romance and overall story arc is coupled with exciting action and adventure.
One of the first paranormal authors I read was Lara Adrian. Her books came recommended to me from a group of friends I fondly refer to as my “guttermates.” At the time her fifth Midnight Breed book was released, so I was able to read a whole bunch back-to-back, and I enjoyed every moment. The mythology--vampires are actually descendants from a vicious alien race that landed on earth years and years ago--is so unique and intriguing. What I love about her stories is the hot romance and overall story arc is coupled with exciting action and adventure.
After I became active on Twitter, Lara was one of the first persons I followed, and the first author to follow me back. *Squee* On different occasions, we tweeted back and forth and shared stories about books and living in New Hampshire, where we both have resided the past 10 years. I bugged her about having any signings (hoping since I lived so close, I may actually be able to attend something), and she told me about the NH RWA Spring Fling in a neighboring town, where there would be a book fair and signing. At first I thought I would have to pay the $90 entrance fee to attend the signing, and I have to admit, I was really tempted! But then I found out that the signing was open to the public and I blocked the date and time on my calendar!
So on Saturday May 15, 2010, after I fed my family, I hopped in my car and drove to the book fair. I was SO nervous. I had never met a famous person before. And authors are my rock stars - my movie stars, so I was really excited. I was worried that I would say something stupid or act too fangirl and scare Lara away (I could see the headline: Local woman is tossed from book fair for crazy behavior!)
I parked my car and made my way into the hotel where the NH RWA conference was held. The place was packed with multiple events. I had heard about signings that have been standing room only and I was worried that maybe I should have gotten there sooner. But thankfully, the event I wanted was downstairs and not so crowded. In fact, when I walked into the room, I was surprised at how laid-back it all was.
I walked in and saw Lara immediately (her photo is on her blog, Facebook site and books). The event was pretty small and there wasn’t anyone visiting with Lara at the time. After chatting with a friendly face (someone from NH RWA), I walked over to Lara’s table. She looked at me, smiled and said "Jen." At this point, my heart is racing and I’m internally going “OH MY GOD, Lara Adrian just recognized me and knew my name!” (She recognized me from my twitter /facebook photo and she knew I was planning on coming to the event.) She gave me a hug. I seriously had to take a few minutes to get the fangirl out of me and try to be myself. She was so nice and down-to-earth, it made it easy for me to relax and “be normal.”
We took some photos and I had the pleasure of meeting her husband and his son. We chatted (with others, too) for about 30 minutes. We talked about Michigan (she grew up just south of where I did) and New Hampshire, different authors, her books (no spoilers, sorry!). I purchased a book (so she could sign it - couldn't bring in outside books) and we talked about my blog. After our visit, I went to shake her hand good-bye and she gave me another hug.
It was so amazing to meet her - Lara was so friendly and welcoming. What a wonderful person to meet! What I love was realizing that even though she is a New York Times Best Selling author, she is a person just like me. I still hold my authors in high regards, but I now get that they are normal women with incredible talent, and a lot of them enjoy meeting their fans. The event was great and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet Lara Adrian!
Please join me tomorrow when I have an author interview with Lara....
AND DON’T FORGET THE GIVEAWAY!! Open to US and Canadian readers. For contest details and how to enter, click HERE.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Coming Soon...
Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet the talented and very friendly, Ms. Lara Adrian. She is the author of the exciting and steamy Midnight Breed Series. Details of our visit and other fun announcements coming soon!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Making my Author List
I love Twitter. I especially love the how I can “chat” with some of my favorite authors. I’m a total fan girl and secretly *squee* inside (or not so secretly) when I get to Tweet with any one of them.
Recently, I was made aware of an opportunity that would allow me to actually meet one of my favorite authors. I’m not sure if it’s going to happen, but it got me thinking about which of these authors I’d love to meet and what we’d do together. Of course, my list was about a dozen women long, so for the sake of this post, I’ve narrowed down to four authors. And now I feel like like Ross from that episode of friends when he takes Isabella Rossellini off his “list.”
The first author I’d love to meet and hang out with is Ms. Nalini Singh. Her Psy/Changling series is in my Top 5 favorites of all time. It was the second paranormal romance series I read and I’ve re-read a few times! When I first was reading her books, I had some questions about the characters, so I emailed her. And to my surprise, she responded right away. It was so cool that a famous, busy author would take the time to write back. I want to get together for brunch or tea and discuss her travels. From her blog, it looks like she has had some amazing adventures.
Another author I’d love to meet is Ms. Lara Adrian. She was my first author “tweep,” and she gave me a #Follow Friday when I first started twitter. Her Midnight Breeds series is an auto-buy for me and it’s hot and exciting. The fun thing is that she only lives a couple hours from me! I would love to get together with her for lunch to discuss our home state. What are her favorite restaurants, where does she like to visit, what has she done since she moved here, what brought her here...
Next up is the always entertaining Ms. Larissa Ione. First of all: who wouldn’t want to meet the person who imagines such amazing males such as Shade and Wraith.... and by amazing I mean *super hot*! 
We have lots of fun on twitter and I would love to get together with her for dinner and a couple drinks. I remember reading that she got some of her inspiration for the Demonica Series while watching Angel. I am a huge Buffy and Angel fan and I think that is so cool. I would love to discuss where she gets her ideas, what else she imagines for her fictional world and maybe get a couple of spoilers! I would also like to learn more about her love of animals and what she does to help/protect them.
We have lots of fun on twitter and I would love to get together with her for dinner and a couple drinks. I remember reading that she got some of her inspiration for the Demonica Series while watching Angel. I am a huge Buffy and Angel fan and I think that is so cool. I would love to discuss where she gets her ideas, what else she imagines for her fictional world and maybe get a couple of spoilers! I would also like to learn more about her love of animals and what she does to help/protect them.Finally, I would love to meet Ms. Meljean Brook. Those who’ve read my blog and tweet with me know that I adore her Guardian Series. Demon Moon is one of my all-time favorite books. I also have chatted a bit with her on twitter. Her blog posts are hilarious (I still laugh over her book p0rn post!) She currently resides in the Portland, OR area. I used to live in Seattle and I miss it dearly. I would love to get together on the West Coast for a cup of coffee (tea for me) and some seafood. I would love to hear her stories, how she got to where she’s at, what she’s up to. I think I would laugh a lot.
Oh, so many great women writers out there... I think I may have to make this a serial post and add in more at a later date. So, who would you love to meet? Who have you met already?
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